Massachusetts House passes $41 billion FY19 state budget bill

BOSTON -- The Massachusetts House on Thursday passed a $41.065 billion state budget for fiscal 2019 after four days of debate.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jeffrey Sanchez, D-Boston, said while opening the debate on Monday that the budget "will touch the lives of so many, especially those who are most vulnerable among us."

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, said in a statement, "This is a fiscally-sound budget that addresses key House priorities and sets the standard for supporting those facing adversity. I congratulate Chairman Sanchez for his incredible work and I thank my fellow representatives for their invaluable input."

The budget bill passed 150-4.

The budget has a strong focus on education. It funds reforms to the criminal justice system, including new investments in diversion programs and specialty courts. Other new investments relate to homelessness services and substance abuse. The House rejected a proposal by Gov. Charlie Baker to move 140,000 adults off MassHealth and into similar Health Connector plans.

Most of the discussion this week happened behind closed doors as House leaders sifted through 1,400 amendments and decided which ones to include in the final budget. The State House News Service reported that lawmakers added $81.3 million in spending to the budget through those amendments.

The amendments are mainly local earmarks, including many affecting Western Massachusetts -- line items such as $250,000 for the UMass Center at Springfield and $1 million for Baystate Health.

The State House News Service reported that Rep. John Scibak, D-South Hadley, added earmarks to benefit the district of the late Rep. Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, who died in February. These include $125,000 for the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness, $50,000 for Grow Food Northampton to connect children with gardening and healthy food, and $50,000 to the Cancer Connection to support people living with a cancer diagnosis.

The budget also includes some policy shifts. Lawmakers voted to repeal the "family cap," which denies additional welfare money for children born while a family is on public assistance.

Naomi Meyer, an attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services, praised that decision. "The Cap on Kids has been harmful to children and their families, forcing parents to make incredibly difficult decisions about what basic necessities they may not be able to provide for their children," Meyer said in a statement.

The House approved an increase to the state Conservation Land Tax Credit, which landowners get when they donate land for conservation. Today there is an annual cap of $2 million in tax credits, and there is a backlog of applications for people who want to donate land.

Rep. Steve Kulik, D-Worthington, said in a statement, "By increasing the cap on the (Conservation Land Tax Credit) we will protect more open space, working landscapes, and natural habitats which add to our Commonwealth's quality of life."

Another amendment would allow nonprofit organizations, rather than just municipalities, to buy the anti-overdose drug naloxone from a state bulk purchasing trust fund so they can get the drug at a cheaper price.

The budget now moves on to the state Senate, which will release its own version in May. The Senate budget will then be debated and voted on, and the two versions will be reconciled by a committee of House-Senate negotiators. The budget needs to be signed before fiscal 2019 begins on July 1, 2018.

Advocates will be looking to the Senate to add items that got left out of the House budget.

Matt Casale, a staff attorney for the consumer group MASSPIRG, criticized the House for underfunding regional transit authorities. The House would set aside $82 million for regional transit authorities, although the authorities asked for $88 million.

"We urged for $88 million in this year's budget simply to prevent further service cuts and allow the RTAs to maintain current levels of service," Casale said in a statement. "In the grand scheme of a $41 billion budget this is infinitesimal, but it would go a long way towards improving public transportation throughout the Commonwealth."